A Green Bay veterinary clinic is fighting to hang onto a contract to shelter stray dogs and cats for the city, despite complaints about how the clinic handles the animals.

Packerland Veterinary Center, located on the city's west side, was awarded the city's stray pet contract in 2013, displacing the Bay Area Humane Society.

Critics say the veterinary clinic, 121 Packerland Drive, is overloaded with stray animals and is forced to ship them to remote locations outside Green Bay, sometimes making it difficult for owners to reclaim their pets.

But employees and supporters of Packerland Veterinary are defending the operation and urging Green Bay aldermen not to transfer the contract back to the Bay Area Humane Society, 1830 Radisson St.

Clinic owner Chanda Holschbach told aldermen Thursday that the business once even paid for gasoline so a pet owner could drive to reclaim a pet.

"We have gone above and beyond," Holschbach said.

A City Council committee voted Thursday to recommend sticking with Packerland Veterinary by indefinitely shelving the proposal to return the contract to Bay Area Humane Society.

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A puppy greets a child at the Bay Area Humane Society in Green Bay.(Photo: File/Press-Gazette Media)

The Advisory Committee also recommended shelving a proposal to take animal control services away from the city police department and privatize that operation with the humane society.

Both matters now advance to the full City Council for final action.

Several aldermen voiced reluctance to strip Packerland Veterinary of its city stray pet contract more than a year before the $144,000-a-year deal is scheduled to expire.

"The honorable way to conduct business — you don't just trash contracts willy nilly," Alderman Tom Sladek said.

The Bay Area Humane Society had handled stray dogs and cats in Green Bay for about 50 years before the city in 2013 broke with tradition and shifted the responsibility from the nonprofit humane society to the for-profit Packerland Veterinary.

The deal calls for the veterinary clinic to shelter all stray pets in Green Bay through mid-2016.

Alderman Tim DeWane, a supporter of the humane society, proposed canceling the contract, sending it back to the humane society and combining it with the animal control services now provided by the police department.

Heidi Waukechon, a longtime volunteer at pet shelters, said the humane society does an admirable job, but that Packerland Veterinary ships stray animals to out-of-town facilities that are overcrowded and incapable of caring for the animals.

"They have taken Green Bay backwards," she said.

The city contract calls for Packerland Veterinary to accept stray pets and shelter them for seven days so that the owners have a chance to reclaim them. After that, the clinic is responsible for trying to find new homes for the animals.

The city can terminate the contract early by giving Packerland Veterinary at least 90 days notice.

Clinic employee Sarah Gordon told aldermen that the business has done nothing to warrant losing the contract. Gordon said the clinic and its network of shelters are dedicated to giving every animal a chance for a healthy and happy life.

Gordon said the move to strip Packerland Veterinary of its contract was hard to accept.

"It is extremely personal," she said. "We all put our heart and soul into this."